Committing to the Fundraising Basics This Fall? Start With These Five
Rising costs, teams stretched thin, donors taking longer to decide, and boards wanting certainty. In a season like this, the best fundraising advice is the oldest: commit to the basics.
That’s easy to say, but it’s easy to forget what to actually do. So here are five of those fundraising basics, each paired with a resource built to help you put the steps into practice this fall instead of just nodding along at a vague idea.
1. Thank everyone who’s supported you in the last 24 months
Phone calls are best. Hand the list to your board or a few volunteers and let them make the calls. A script for thank-you calls can lift giving by 10% to 25%, and it works precisely because it asks for nothing. Donors hear from you once with no ask attached, so you are more likely to be top of mind when the next ask arrives.
2. Put a real dollar goal next to every major donor prospect
“Participation” isn’t an effective fundraising goal. A dollar amount is. The Gift Range Calculator shows you how many gifts you need at each level to hit your target, which turns a possibly overwhelming campaign goal into a plan for who you’re asking and for how much. If you want to rate those prospects first, the Ask Without Fear!® Online Course also teaches the CPI Index: a 1–5 score on Capacity, Philanthropy, and Interest that tells you which prospects are more ready for an appointment (12 or higher) and which aren’t yet.
3. Ask. Don’t educate.
People don’t give because they finally understand your mission. They give because someone asks them for a specific amount. If you’re newer to asking, or you’re trying to get a board member comfortable doing it, Do It Yourself Fundraising walks through R.E.A.L. (Research, Engage, Ask, Love), the four steps that make an ask feel like a conversation instead of a transaction. Pair it with the guides in the Donor Objections Library for what to say when a donor hesitates, and you’re ready to go. To learn how to ask without pitching, watch The Asking Conversation, a six-step model from fundraising trainer Andrea Kihlstedt on The Nonprofit Academy.
4. Remember it’s taking 11 or 12 attempts to connect right now
A voicemail isn’t a failed call. It’s attempt one of twelve. The scenarios in the Getting a Donor Meeting library have language for the specific moments that make people give up early: the donor who hasn’t answered in months, the email that went nowhere, the awkwardness of reaching out again after a long gap.
5. Give your board something small to do
Most board members sign on for governance and mission. Fundraising isn’t made a clear part of the job until later, usually by the development director or the ED, after they’re already committed to board service. 21 Ways for Board Members to Engage with Their Nonprofit’s Fundraising, free when you subscribe to the Ask Without Fear!® newsletter, gives them options that don’t all require cold-calling strangers: introductions, thank-you notes, telling their own story about why they joined.
If you want to go deeper
The Ask Without Fear!® Online Course walks board and staff through the full R.E.A.L. process in short video chapters, with a section built specifically for working through it together as a board or committee. And NPA All-Access gets you access to 140+ CFRE-accredited trainings, including that Ask Without Fear!® course, for $19 a month, if your team wants a steady source of training that doesn’t require finding a day for an offsite.
These are fundraising basics. None of this is complicated. Thank people. Set a number. Ask. Expect to try more than once. Give your board something they can do. The basics work because they’re basics, not because they’re new. And if they start to feel boring, that’s usually when they start to work.
It’s up to you to do them.
If you haven’t received the 21 Ways ebook yet, subscribe to the Ask Without Fear!® newsletter and it’s yours free.
